The Essenes, an ancient Jewish sect believed by scholars to be the group who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, were the topic of the second session of the Theologian-in-Residence lecture series at Tusculum College.
Dr. Travis Williams, assistant professor of religion at Tusculum, is presenting a series of lectures, “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible: Identifying, Altering and Preserving Scripture in Antiquity” as part of the annual series sponsored by Tusculum College and partially funded by Ron Smith.
The focus of Williams’ presentation was examining what the archeological evidence and the text found in the scrolls themselves tell about the group that lived at the settlement at Qumran near the caves where the scrolls were found, as well as identify who wrote and took measures to preserve the more than 900 ancient texts that have been discovered in an arid area near the Dead Sea.
From the archeological findings at Qumran it can be concluded that a group of approximately 150-200 people lived in the settlement and that group was likely Jewish as there is a clear concern for ritual purity, Dr. Williams said. In addition, writing and copying of documents was important to this group.
The next question he addressed is whether the people living at Qumran are connected to the Dead Sea Scrolls. “If we determine who wrote the scrolls, and if we can connect the scrolls to the settlement, it can be one of the pieces needed to understand the texts better,” he said.
Excavations at Qumran were initially supervised by a French Dominican priest, Roland De Vaux, who proposed that the settlement, which housed between 150-200 people, was occupied from around 135 B.C. to 68 C.E. with the exception of a period between 31 B.C. and 4 B.C. when it was abandoned after an earthquake.
However, Dr. Williams noted, scholarly views regarding the timeline of the occupation of Qumran have changed. Jodi Magness, who is the major authority on archeology at Qumran in recent times, has proposed a timeline that is now more widely accepted. In Magness’ timeline, Qumran was established sometime between 100 – 50 B.C. and was continuously occupied until 68 C.E. when the settlement is believed to have been destroyed by the Romans.
Some of the interesting finds at the site are a large dining hall, a scriptorium and several stepped pools, Dr. Williams said. The dining hall is the largest room at Qumran and archaeologists believe it to have been used for a communal meals because of the dishes found in an adjacent room, he continued.
The scriptorium was a room dedicated to writing and copying manuscripts and may have been where the parchments for the scrolls were prepared as evidenced by narrow tables well suited for writing and ink wells discovered inside.
Seven to 10 stepped pools around the settlement have also been the subject of debate, Williams noted. Some scholars have theorized that they were cisterns to collect rainwater. However, most scholars believe they are pools to be used for purification as some have steps with partitions that indicate a concern for ritual separation.
While there are alternate views that Qumran was either a wealthy villa or a pottery factory, the consensus view among most scholars is that the settlement was a communal building for a Jewish sectarian group, Dr. Williams continued.
The proximity of the caves to the settlement, the discovery of the same style of pottery jars in the caves and the settlement, as well as the ink used to write the scrolls all provide proofs that the scrolls and Qumran are connected, he said.
Very soon after the discovery of the scrolls, people began connecting them with the Jewish Essene movement, Dr. Williams noted, and the Essene hypothesis has since been the majority opinion of scholars.
The discovery of such things as phylacteries containing scripture, clothing fragments of white linen, and the geographical location of the settlement all match what is known of the Essenes’ strictness and focus on ritual purity from writings of historians and scholars of the period.
Texts within the scrolls themselves also reflect theological emphases which connect them with beliefs that are attributed to the Essenes, Dr. Williams said, such as a belief that man does not have free will but all is governed by God. The scrolls also document the same type of admission requirements that are mentioned by ancient authors describing the Essenes. To become an Essene, he said, an individual first had to enter a period of examination and testing before being accepted to the sect, a process that took about three years.
Although there is very little know about the origins of the community, Dr. Williams said, scholars believe it is connected to political upheaval in Jerusalem when the high priest was removed from office at around 100 B.C. and was replaced by a Jewish leader who helped one of the warring Greek factions battling for control of the area win the conflict. Scholars believe the Essenes are a group who separated themselves from the temple because of what they felt to be illegitimate leadership that did not meet the qualifications set forth in Judaism.
Scholars have also theorized about why the scrolls were left and it is believed that those at Qumran took the scrolls to the caves to keep them from being destroyed by the Romans.
The lecture series will continue on Tuesday, Feb. 23, when Dr. Williams will explore the fluidity of the scriptural texts found among the scrolls and also preview the phenomenon of “Rewritten Bible,” in which a work closely reproduces a biblical book but modifies it by means of addition, omission, paraphrase, rearrangement or other types of changes. Due to postponement of an earlier lecture this month due to inclement weather, the series’ concluding session will be Tuesday, March 8.
The lecture session will begin at 10 a.m. in the Chalmers Conference Center in the Niswonger Commons. The session will conclude around 1:30 p.m., and lunch in the college’s cafeteria is included. Although there is no admission fee to attend the lectures, reservations are required. For more information or to make a reservation for the series, please call 423-636-7304 or email eestes@tusculum.edu.
Dr. Travis Williams answers a question about the archeological discoveries at Qumran during the second session of the Theologian-in-Residence lecture series.